The people of Earth have spoken: One of Pluto’s moons should be named Vulcan

Vulcan, of course, was Hades' nephew—Spock himself dubs it the “logical choice.”

Back on February 10, 2013, the SETI Institute announced it would open up voting on naming Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons—which, so far, are called simply P4 and P5. SETI cautioned the winning entry would just be a suggestion. The new names had to be officially approved by the International Astronomical Union.

In keeping with the tradition of naming celestial bodies after figures from Roman and Greek mythology, the SETI Institute proposed a few of its own. The organization asked that names be related to Hades, the Latin name for Pluto.

I didn't partake in the voting, but Vulcan (volcanos/lava) and Cerberus (three-headed hellhound) are pretty awesome names from a mythology angle alone. Of course I'm partial to Greek to I'd go with Hephaestus & Kerberos, but whatever. As a bonus if any more satellites are discovered, they could use Echidna, Typhon, and Orthrus too.

I personally think that the name Vulcan should be reserved for the first planet we find with intelligent life on it.

I personally think that the first planet we find with intelligent life on it will already have a name.

LOL I am sure it will and if it is anything like earth it will have several but the chances that name will be anything we could physically pronounce or maybe even hear would be unlikely. Not to mention it may be a while to be able to even communicate with them.

Yes, because nothing says lava and smoke like a frozen Kuiper belt object.

Seriously, anyone who thinks this is a good idea needs to turn in their Trek/geek credibility. From Star Trek, planet Vulcan is a high gravity hot desert planet. This is about as opposite as it gets. Pluto's moon is cold and small, with miniscule gravity.

I also think the name Vulcan should be reserved for something more important, maybe at least we should wait until we discover another icy dwarf in the Kuiper belt.

Also a small correction: "Hades" is Greek and so is "Plouton" and the two were roughly synonymous. "Pluto" is the transliteration of "Plouton" into Latin and apparently the only form the Romans used so its commonly said that Pluto was the Roman god of the Underworld .

Wait...what? Pluto is barely big enough to have a moon. I mean, it has Charon, but isn't that about as big as Pluto itself

Pluto/Charon are actually really good at hanging on to moons. They have an unexpectedly large "Hill Sphere" (gravitational zone of control), as do all the major Trans-Neptunian Objects.

They're all better at holding on to moons than the Earth, for example.

It's because Hill spheres are defined primarily by how much the Sun's gravity messes with the moons. So being a really far way away from the Sun helps a lot. Also, having no major neighbors helps too. (Neptune's always well away, because of the Plutonian 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune)

Big, big Trek fan but we should save "Vulcan" for the first confirmed Earth-sized terrestrial exo-planet in its star's habitable zone. This use of Vulcan is a non sequitur. Cerberus works well; Persephone as well.

The organization asked that names be related to Hades, the Latin name for Pluto

Right. From their website:

Quote:

We need to choose two names from Greek mythology related to Hades and the underworld

But... This doesn't make sense!

First of all, most of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune) and Pluto itself have the names of the Roman variants of the gods (Uranus being the odd god out with the Greek name), and the respective moons have mixed Greek/Roman names. So, why do they all of a sudden specifically insist on a name from Greek mythology?

Second, Vulcan is a *Roman* god! Thus, it doesn't fulfill their (rather weird) criteria! If they wanted the Greek counterpart, they should have gone with Hephaestus. I can definitely see why Vulcan would make a more popular choice, but it makes the original criteria seem even weirder (and ignores it).

Vulcan is a good name, but the "nephew of Hades" doesn't really seem like it in itself should carry much weight (half the pantheon are nephews/nieces of Hades!). Personally, I feel that Cerberus/Kerberos (the three-headed guard dog of Hades (the realm)) or Persephone (Hades' wife (and niece!)) would be more thematically appropriate. Given, both are already used as names for asteroids, and maybe that's a reason to avoid them.

So... Good name, but with some weirdness attached, and maybe not the best "thematic" choice.